Which one-loss NON-national champion college football team was the best team ever?

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Which one-loss NON-national champion college football team was the best team ever?

'71 Oklahoma?
'69 Ohio State?
'02 Miami?
'86 Miami?
'05 USC?
'87 Oklahoma?
'93 Notre Dame?
'83 Nebraska?
'23 Georgia?
'11 LSU?
'16 Alabama?
'Others?
 

MrNimbus

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I'm a crazy pro nd fan but it's 02 miami. That roster was just insane. They would've destroyed everyone if they had an above average qb. Ken Dorsey was fine. But I see similarities between him and Matt Leinart. Just surrounded by crazy talent but was a slightly above average qb.
 

Plankton

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As much as I love the 1993 Irish squad, the 1986 Miami team was the best 1 loss team I ever saw. That team had sick talent across the board.
 

NorthDakota

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I'm a crazy pro nd fan but it's 02 miami. That roster was just insane. They would've destroyed everyone if they had an above average qb. Ken Dorsey was fine. But I see similarities between him and Matt Leinart. Just surrounded by crazy talent but was a slightly above average qb.
I remember watching them lose.
 

rtrn2glory

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02 Miami lost the only time out of ten they would have against Ohio St that night.

I think Texas and USC in 05 prolly closer to 3/10.

Prolly same with 93 ND/FSU
 

forkbeard3777

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2011 LSU.

Such an insanely good and talented team that played an absolute beast of a schedule.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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I'm of the opinion that the 2000-2002 Miami Hurricanes were the most talented collection of talen in NCAAF history, so I'm going with '00 and '02 Canes.


The number of players drafted in the first round in an of itself from the 2001 is insane. Then you look at how many were drafted overall.

On top of points scored, points allowed, margin of victory, etc. If they are not THE best, they're up there and have a very legitimate place in the conversation.
 

Katzenboyer

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The number of players drafted in the first round in an of itself from the 2001 is insane. Then you look at how many were drafted overall.

On top of points scored, points allowed, margin of victory, etc. If they are not THE best, they're up there and have a very legitimate place in the conversation.

It's absurd. The depth chart is mind-boggling; Vince Wilfork and Sean Taylor were backups on those teams!

It's also insane to think what could have been. The 2000 team lost Week 2 (by five points) to a Washington team that finished the season ranked #2, and then didn't lose another game until the 2002 Fiesta Bowl against OSU (by 7). The Canes were 10 points away from a three-peat.
 

Jiggafini19Deux

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It's absurd. The depth chart is mind-boggling; Vince Wilfork and Sean Taylor were backups on those teams!

It's also insane to think what could have been. The 2000 team lost Week 2 (by five points) to a Washington team that finished the season ranked #2, and then didn't lose another game until the 2002 Fiesta Bowl against OSU (by 7). The Canes were 10 points away from a three-peat.
Yes. It was pretty remarkable in terms of that run and I think it puts into perspective how fine the margins can be in any given season during any given week.

That 2001 team had one close game all year. On the road in Blacksburg vs Virginia Tech, the last game of the season.

They blew the doors off of everyone.
 

IRISHDODGER

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All great teams. Two of the best 2-loss teams I’ve seen:

2002 SC - Poodle was in his 2nd season & they were unbeatable by the end of that season. They embarrassed Iowa in the Rose Bowl but were playing, IMO; the best football in the nation at the end of that season.

2006 LSU - If Saban was HC, they would’ve been undefeated or a 1 loss team at worst (UF was great that year, too). But, of course; they had Lesticles and he pissed down his leg despite having arguably the most talented roster in the nation that year.
 

NorthDakota

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Yes, but if they won they wouldn't be an option for this would they?
Lol I should rephrase. This was the first year I really followed FBS football. I was "raised" a Notre Dame fan but I got NCAA '03 and a GameCube that year. So I was locked in as a 10 year old boy.

I remember McGahee's knee exploding on TV and telling my mom that he just lost a lot of money (I imagine I recently heard that injuries impacted your draft spot).

Any team before that predates my college football awareness. I was less than a year old when ND was (by any objective measure) deprived of a championship.

I don't buy the USC '05 team as eligible. They needed miracles (plural) to beat a plucky, but very flawed Notre Dame team. Was ND their best win that year?
 
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'01 you mean?

This tells you everything you need to know about how stacked that team was:


That '01 team had a great roster but they didn't play to that level on the field every week. As pointed out earlier, they COULD NOT score an offensive touchdown against UNRANKED Boston College, and BC was without the nation's leading running back that week. The "greatest" cfb team ever NOT being able to score an offensive touchdown against an UNRANKED team....it's egregious, ludicrous and preposterous to even think so.

You think LSU 2019, Nebraska 1995, Alabama 2020 wouldn't be able to score an offensive touchdown on UNRANKED BC? They would have scored 70 points.

If you're so inclined, try not to fall asleep watching the "greatest" cfb team ever.



Then, they needed five turnovers to survive #14 Virginia Tech to win by only two points. Based on solely what they did on the field in 2001, and that is all that matters, Billingsley has them ranked at #29 all-time.


And not being able to score on an UNRANKED team isn't even the first flaw in believing they're the greatest cfb team ever:

 
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